![]() "Six months ago I would have bought that. "We're in a three-game series for the NBA Finals," coach David Blatt said. Missing All-Stars Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving, the Cavs didn't have enough firepower, and their legs were heavy after playing three games in five days against a team that keeps coming in waves. "Sometimes, your offense just doesn't show up." "Offensively we were terrible," James said, noting the Cavs were 4-of-27 on 3-pointers. Smith missed all eight 3-point attempts and Cleveland's reserves combined to score seven points. They also got nothing from their bench as J.R. The Cavs shot just 2-of-18 from the field and were outscored 27-12 in the fourth quarter. Timofey Mozgov led Cleveland with 28 points and guard Matthew Dellavedova, again battling leg cramps after a hospital stay for dehydration, had 10. LeBron James scored 20 points - 21 under his average in the series - with 12 rebounds and eight assists, but Cleveland's megastar, who needed stitches to close a cut on his head sustained when he banged it into a camera in the first half, didn't score in the fourth quarter and couldn't do enough for the undermanned Cavaliers. That's what's been winning us games all year." It was just awesome to come out here and impose our will on both sides of the ball and play our brand of basketball. "We played desperate out there, man," Klay Thompson said. "Tonight we came in with the mentality that we had to win this game," Curry said. This wasn't desperation for the Warriors, but it was close, as none of the 32 teams which have fallen behind 3-1 in the Finals has won a title. ![]() Game 5 is Sunday night at Oakland's rambunctious Oracle Arena, where the teams split two overtime games last week. NBA, Cleveland Cavaliers, Golden State WarriorsĬLEVELAND - Stephen Curry shook off Iman Shumpert with a dribble, stepped back behind the line and splashed a 3-pointer that seemed to submerge a mute button on rocking and rolling Quicken Loans Arena.Ĭurry clenched both fists, slapped his chest and yelled, "C'mon!"Īt last, this was the MVP and these were the Golden State Warriors - so deep, so deadly.Ĭurry and Andre Iguodala scored 22 points apiece and the Warriors, showing why they were the league's best team all season, squared the NBA Finals at 2-2 on Thursday night with a 103-82 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Warriors faced a tough test on Thursday, and it won’t get much easier on Friday as they take on a Cavs team that has the East’s best home record.Stephen Curry, Andre Iguodala help Warriors knot Finals vs. The Cavs have held their opponents below 100 points 14 times this season and have won 13 of those games. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen provide plenty of rim protection, as the Cavs have the second best defensive rating (allowing 109.4 points per 100 possessions) and allow the fewest amount of points per game (107.1). But it’s on defense where the Cavs are most dangerous. Darius Garland is coming off a season-high 14-assist effort on Wednesday, and he’s one of two players in the NBA this season averaging at least 20 points and eight assists while shooting at least 39 percent on 3-pointers. With or without Mitchell, the Cavs are a much improved and deep team this season. The ninth leading scorer (28.4 ppg) in the NBA this season, Mitchell missed the team’s previous game – a down-to-the wire loss to the red-hot Grizzlies – on Wednesday with a strained left groin and is questionable for Friday’s matchup. One of the big storylines for Cleveland is the health of Donovan Mitchell. The Cavaliers have alternated wins and losses over the last two weeks and come into Friday’s matchup in fifth place in the Eastern Conference.
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